I highly doubt that the GOP planned any of this but I think the current situation has a good chance of working out heavily in their favor IF they accept some minor concessions from the Dems and move on.

Here is why...

If they had simply made this fight about spending and NOT tried to force the Dems to defund or delay Obamacare I honestly think the Dems would have put forth a delay themselves after finding out how far from finished the website truly was. As it stands the GOP's stance has made it impossible for the Dems to enact a delay without giving the GOP a massive "win."

I have stated all along that an Obamacare delay would backfire against the GOP by 1)pushing this massively unpopular issue back past the next election and 2)giving the Dems time to "fix" the system enough to make it more palatable.

The debt ceiling issue and govt shutdown will be long forgotten from the ephemeral public consciousness by the time the next election hits. What little memory remains will be of how the current govt doesn't work and we need to "throw the bums out." That kind of attitude hurts the Dems FAR worse than it does the GOP.

Barring more GOP screwups I honestly think we'll see a 50/50 or 51/49 split after 2014. (Of course 50/50 doesn't help the GOP much)

So, now that the news is droning ON AND ON about the failures of Obamacare... is ANYONE (except the most partisan of hacks) thinking about govt shutdowns or debt ceilings? If the election was held tomorrow the Dems would be in massive trouble. As it stands, there is plenty of time for things to flip flop again.

My guess as for what's up next, back to the evil Republicans and how they hate immigrants and so on. Maybe sprinkle in some international issues. That should be good enough to distract most people after another few weeks of the healthcare stuff.

Nothing is gonna distract anyone from the money it is costing them to be insured.
Thats the beauty of it. This time, no ones going to be looking the other way.every month you get a reminder
Im sticking with Krauthammer. The ACA will set the Dems back a decade if not more.
& funny thing is, Dems think Hillary is a lock for 2016

__________________

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Kotter

Sounds like a great idea. I got some friends at DHS and the CIA, who would really love to read your stuff from here.

So, now that the news is droning ON AND ON about the failures of Obamacare... is ANYONE (except the most partisan of hacks) thinking about govt shutdowns or debt ceilings? If the election was held tomorrow the Dems would be in massive trouble. As it stands, there is plenty of time for things to flip flop again.

Just wait until Teddy Cruz decides to go batshit crazy again in January.

Just wait until Teddy Cruz decides to go batshit crazy again in January.

If he is smart, he doesn't create any new battles but instead uses the opportunity to play a giant "I told you so" regarding the evils of Obamacare. If he's REALLY smart he does so WHILE OFFERING AN ALTERNATIVE that isn't just a giant money grab for insurance companies. He'll make huge gains even if that alternative isn't perfect, as long as it is seen as addressing the REAL problem of health care costs and not just health INSURANCE.

The only risk in a tactic like this is that you piss off the insurance lobby. Ask Ann Richards how that worked out for her.

Premium renewal came out today for our company. Mine went up $12.80 a month. 9.37%. They state that only 3.75% of that is due to Obamacare. More than 60% of that is not attributed to Obamacare.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AustinChief

This is a bit lower than I expected but I would imagine that most decent company plans will see small increases due to Obamacare. I was thinking more along the lines of 10% increases attributable to ACA (in addition to normal increases) but nothing huge like the individual market is seeing.

Just remember the "Employer Mandate" has been put on hold for a year for political reasons(2014 mid-terms) and why you did not see much of an increase. When that mandate kicks in all hell will break lose financially for these companies and many will much rather pay the fine than pay for your healthcare thus booting all their employees to the Obamacare Curb. Count on it

__________________"All real Americans love the sting of battle and may God have mercy on my enemies because I wont".

'Progressivism' is nothing more than a dressed up co-opted term for 'Marxism'.

Nothing is gonna distract anyone from the money it is costing them to be insured.
Thats the beauty of it. This time, no ones going to be looking the other way.every month you get a reminder
Im sticking with Krauthammer. The ACA will set the Dems back a decade if not more.
& funny thing is, Dems think Hillary is a lock for 2016

It may set the Dem party back but the Dems got what they wanted, Govt healthcare that will destroy this country in due time which was their whole goal to begin with in the Cloward & Piven approach of overwhelming the system to break the back of Capitalistic America

__________________"All real Americans love the sting of battle and may God have mercy on my enemies because I wont".

'Progressivism' is nothing more than a dressed up co-opted term for 'Marxism'.

Just remember the "Employer Mandate" has been put on hold for a year for political reasons(2014 mid-terms) and why you did not see much of an increase. When that mandate kicks in all hell will break lose financially for these companies and many will much rather pay the fine than pay for your healthcare thus booting all their employees to the Obamacare Curb. Count on it

Just got the details on our 2014 changes and we are down to only two options. My premiums will go up 25% for my family plan and deductibles will be going up 30%. That is to keep the same PPO that I currently have. The other plan option was the low cost high deductible variety that I simply cannot take the gamble on covering 4 people (3 kids).

Just got the details on our 2014 changes and we are down to only two options. My premiums will go up 25% for my family plan and deductibles will be going up 30%. That is to keep the same PPO that I currently have. The other plan option was the low cost high deductible variety that I simply cannot take the gamble on covering 4 people (3 kids).

Just wait until that mandate kicks in next year for your 2015 benefits. Not going to be pretty

I know many in your situation who did take the lesser plan based on the fact that they are in great health as a family and the premium they pay is literally cut by 60%. My friend could either pay 425.00 a month for a family of 4 with the Premium plan that covers 80% or pay 185.00 a month for the Choice plan that covers at 70%. Deductibles are lower for the Premium obviously but not enough to justify passing on literally $235.00 back in your pocket every month. But everyone's family health situation IS different and you must make that choice in accordance to that.

__________________"All real Americans love the sting of battle and may God have mercy on my enemies because I wont".

'Progressivism' is nothing more than a dressed up co-opted term for 'Marxism'.

Just got the details on our 2014 changes and we are down to only two options. My premiums will go up 25% for my family plan and deductibles will be going up 30%. That is to keep the same PPO that I currently have. The other plan option was the low cost high deductible variety that I simply cannot take the gamble on covering 4 people (3 kids).

Is your employer's contribution % staying the same? This kind of increase was happening year-over-year at the small business I worked for from 2005 to 2008 or so. My boss was tearing her hair out about health insurance costs.

If he is smart, he doesn't create any new battles but instead uses the opportunity to play a giant "I told you so" regarding the evils of Obamacare. If he's REALLY smart he does so WHILE OFFERING AN ALTERNATIVE that isn't just a giant money grab for insurance companies. He'll make huge gains even if that alternative isn't perfect, as long as it is seen as addressing the REAL problem of health care costs and not just health INSURANCE.

The only risk in a tactic like this is that you piss off the insurance lobby. Ask Ann Richards how that worked out for her.

Teddy doesn't have an alternative. He will not be able to make gains on that because he is batshit crazy.

I'm curious as to how you think he could structure an alternative that isn't a money grab by the insurance companies or how he could come up with an alternative that controls costs absent a strict price control regime.

It may set the Dem party back but the Dems got what they wanted, Govt healthcare that will destroy this country in due time which was their whole goal to begin with in the Cloward & Piven approach of overwhelming the system to break the back of Capitalistic America

Just got the details on our 2014 changes and we are down to only two options. My premiums will go up 25% for my family plan and deductibles will be going up 30%. That is to keep the same PPO that I currently have. The other plan option was the low cost high deductible variety that I simply cannot take the gamble on covering 4 people (3 kids).

I took the dive on the low cost, high deductible plan this year (company is giving us $1200 to start the year) and I'm funding the HSA with the difference in premiums (about $200 a paycheck).

Our company is eliminating the PPO next year because they have a commitment to cheap benefits and they said the annual increases on the PPO (24% this year 20-something% last year) is screwing up their ability to keep cheap benefits.

We went through a ton of examples and in the long run, every time the HSA high deductible is cheaper.

Is your employer's contribution % staying the same? This kind of increase was happening year-over-year at the small business I worked for from 2005 to 2008 or so. My boss was tearing her hair out about health insurance costs.

I just received all of the information last night so I am not sure if they changed their contribution or not. It is a large company with 10k+ full time employees and they haven't changed their contribution percentage drastically in the past. I plan on digging into the costs more in the coming days.

I took the dive on the low cost, high deductible plan this year (company is giving us $1200 to start the year) and I'm funding the HSA with the difference in premiums (about $200 a paycheck).

Our company is eliminating the PPO next year because they have a commitment to cheap benefits and they said the annual increases on the PPO (24% this year 20-something% last year) is screwing up their ability to keep cheap benefits.

We went through a ton of examples and in the long run, every time the HSA high deductible is cheaper.

Thanks for the insight. I need to get my head around it all and figure out what I am going to do. The easy thing would just be to keep the PPO and pay for the increase. However, like your example, there is a drastic difference in cost between the HD and the PPO plan ~$200 per month.